Yorkshire Dales Dairy

Our dairy sits in a North Yorkshire dale where the dry-stone walls tell you everything about the people who built them — practical, stubborn, and devoted to good grass. Yorkshire Dales Dairy began when my parents converted a redundant barn beside the milking parlour into a small creamery, determined to add value to the milk our herd had always produced rather than see it leave the farm anonymously.

We keep a closed herd of British Friesian and Shorthorn crosses, bred for robust health and quality milk rather than extreme yield. From April to November the cows graze limestone-rich pastures that give our cream its colour and our butter its depth. In winter they eat silage cut from the same fields, keeping the link between land and flavour unbroken. We churn in small batches using traditional methods — slow separation, gentle pasteurisation where required, and no unnecessary additives.

The Dales have been dairy country for generations, and we feel that weight of history in every working day. Milking begins before dawn; churning follows once the milk has settled. Our team is small enough that everyone knows the cows by name and the vats by touch. We sell cream for pouring, butter for baking, and occasionally fresh milk to neighbours who still remember what proper dairy tastes like.

We maintain hedgerows for wildlife, repair dry-stone walls each summer, and open the farm occasionally so visitors see parlour and churn together. Transparency builds trust, and trust keeps small dairies alive in a county that once hummed with milk lorries.

Today we supply Maxwells with butter and cream that reflect our valley. We are not chasing fashion; we are preserving a way of farming that respects cattle, land, and the cook's need for ingredients that behave honestly in the kitchen. The Dales are quiet, beautiful, and exacting — qualities we hope you taste in every spoonful.

Values: Grass-fed, traditional churning